The impact of computer use, computer skills and computer use intensity: evidence from WERS 2004

Computers and ICT have changed the way we live and work. The latest WERS 2004 provides a snapshot of how using ICT at the workplace has changed our working lives. Various studies have suggested that the use of a computer at work boosted earnings by as much as 20%. Others suggest this reported impact is due to unobserved heterogeneity. Using excellent data from the WERS employer-employee matched data we compare OLS estimates with those from estimations which include controls for establishments, industrial sectors and occupations and use control function, treatment effects models and Instrumental Variable estimation. We show that the results of OLS estimation grossly overestimate the return to computer use but that including occupation controls, reduces the return to between 3-10%. We explore the return on different IT skills and also find a return to the intensity of computer use as measured by the number of tasks a computer is used for

Computer-mediated conferencing

This section addresses issues of Computer-Mediated Conferencing (CMC) as a teaching and learning resource, concentrating upon skills development within that context. The materials are appropriate for different experience levels of learners and provide a range of pathways to the materials and resources as appropriate for any individual learner or learner group

Computer use and productivity growth

Computers ; Productivity

The integration of computer use in education

There is an increasing awareness that disappointing experiences with the introduction of computers in education are a consequence of insufficiently taking into account factors that are crucial when introducing change in educational settings. Many of the problems in the literature show great similarity with the kind of problems often experienced in curriculum implementation. In this context the endeavors to make computer use an integrated part of classroom activities are analyzed. Emphasis will be laid on the interaction between teachers and courseware; elements for a more effective strategy for the integration of computer use in educational practice will be presented, with special attention to the design of support materials as an essential part of courseware

Disloyal Computer Use and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Narrowing the Scope

Congress drafted the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to protect government interest computers from malicious attacks by hackers. As computer use has expanded in the years since its enactment, the CFAA has similarly expanded to cover a number of computer-related activities. This iBrief discusses the extension of the CFAA into the employer/employee context, suggests that this goes beyond the Act\u27s express purpose, compares the different approaches taken by the circuit courts in applying the CFAA to disloyal computer use by employees, and argues that the more recent approach taken by the Ninth Circuit provides a better model for determining if and when the CFAA should apply to employees

Do We Need Computer Skills to Use a Computer? Evidence from Britain

Using data from the 1997 Skills Survey of the Employed British Workforce, we examine the returns to computer skills in Britain. Many researchers, using information on computer use, have concluded that wage differentials between computer users and non-users might, among others, be due to differences in the embodiment of computer skills. Using unique information on the importance, level of sophistication and effectiveness of computer use, we show that computer skills do not yield significant labour market returns for most types of use. Examining the returns to computer skills at different levels of sophistication of use, yields estimates suggesting returns to computer skills at the highest level of sophistication of use only.education, training and the labour market;

The Returns to Computer Use Revisited, Again

Using North American data, we revisit the question first broached by Krueger (1993) and re-examined by DiNardo and Pischke (1997) of whether there exists a real wage differential associated with computer use. Employing a mixed effects model to correct for both worker and workplace unobserved heterogeneity using matched employer-employee panel data, we find that computer users enjoy an almost 4 per cent wage premium over non-users. Failure to correct for the worker selection effect leads to a more than twofold overestimate of this premium, as does failure to correct for workplace unobserved heterogeneity.Wage determination; computers; mixed models; linked employer-employee data